


handwriting

by booksameliad



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: AND I SAW SOMEONE SAY ON A DIFFERRNT IT STOEY, AND I WAS THINKING 'I HAVE ONE RIGHT HERE", Alternate Universe - Soulmates, BC HE IS A SMOL CHILE WHO NEEDS PROTECTING, BUR I WAS TOO SCARED TO TWLL THEM THAT, Bisexual Richie Tozier, M/M, Platonic Soulmates, Richie-centric, Romantic Soulmates, SO THIS IS RICHIE CENTRIC, So theres going to be a lot in here, THAT THEY'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A RICHIE CENTRIC STORY, also angst, also eddie angst is great and all, but yheres barely any richie angst, i don't know what ship's going to happen, if i didn't say that before there is angst, or only two could be romantic, so i don't know either, sorry - Freeform, they could all be together, wait i sound like a bitch, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2018-12-30 23:11:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booksameliad/pseuds/booksameliad
Summary: richie can't stand the sight of his right arm. it's filled with three words, instead of one like everyone else has, people with those same name's are at his school, in their handwriting on his arm.





	1. Chapter 1

Richie doesn't look at his right arm anymore. More specifically, he doesn't look at the opposite side of his palm, where three names are written in scribbled handwriting.

More more specifically, he doesn't really want to remember the names on that spot, because he knows those people. Their his best friends.

At least, they were. They start drifting away soon after they turned 13, and for Richie, it's been the worst couple months.

Since they aren't there to help him, Henry and his little gang have beat him up more. It's changed from once every three weeks to twice every day.

And he fucking hates it.

They aleays humiliate him. They always rile him up by mocking his used to be best friends, and even though they don't talk.

And he doesn't know if they know about it.

They might have, because they hung out less with Richie and more with the three, before they all drifted away.

Scratch that, he knows they did.

 _"Oh, come on you_ _little_ _prick._ _You_ _don't_ _even fight well." Henry grinned as Richie continued on walking towards his house._

 _Him and his gang kept bothering him,_ _and_ _he_ _couldn't_ _take_ _it_ _anymore_ _when they mocked Bill in front_ _of_ _his own_ _house_ _,_ _where_ _he could be_ _coming_ _back from school._

 _"Buh-uh-uh-ut I th-th-thouh-uh-ught you were a b-buh-buh-tch."_ _Henry_ _grinned_ _as Richie_ _turned_ _around, fury clear in his eyes._

 _"You_ _take_ _that_ _back." He said in a low voice._

_"No." He replied, and behind Richie, he saw Bill and_ _the_ _other_ _two_ _coming, and he grinned. "Well! Look_ _who's_ _here! The_ _stuttering_ _freak, the germ freaks, and the Je-"_

_"SHUT UP!" Richie tackled Henry against the_ _pavement_ _. "_ _DON'T_ _YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT MY-"_

_Richie was pulled off of Henry, his glasses flying off_ _into_ _the grass._

_"What's your problem four-eyes? Scared_ _your_ _ex-friends_ _will_ _want to join the fun?" Henry laughed._

_"No." Richie said, spitting blood out of his mouth at one of_ _the_ _bullies_ _, the blonde one he_ _thinks_ _, as he leaves his arms. "I'm scared_ _they'll_ _think_ _I'm_ _a_ _little_ _bitch."_

_"YOU ARE A BITCH!" Henry_ _shouted_ _. "_ _YOU'RE_ _A FOUR-EYED FREAK WITH NO FRIENDS TO PROTECT YOU._ _YOU'RE_ _A LITTLE BITCH_ _WHO_ _NEEDS TO GET PUNCHED."_

_And punches_ _are_ _flying from_ _everywhere_ _, filling his face and chest_ _and_ _everywhere with bruises later, but then, it just hurts._

_They_ _stop after_ _they_ _think_ _they've_ _embarrassed_ _him enough, which is half an hour later. Henry laughs as they_ _walk_ _away_ _,_ _stomping_ _on his_ _ankle_ _before he leaves._

 _Richie crawls_ _over_ _to_ _where he thinks his glasses are, and they are there._ _He_ _puts_ _them_ _on and immediately notices the crack, but at_ _this_ _point, he_ _doesn't_ _care._

_He_ _slowly_ _raises himself up,_ _shaking_ _on his legs. He takes a step forward and feels the limp_ _he's_ _going to have as he_ _walks_ _home._

_He just sighs_ _and_ _grabs_ _his backpack, which they_ _didn't_ _mess_ _with at_ _all_ _,_ _and_ _just hangs it off of_ _one_ _shoulder as_ _he_ _slowly_ _limps to_ _his_ _house, tears dripping off his_ _face_ _, mixed with the blood from the various cuts on his face._

 _And Richie_ _never_ _noticed the_ _three boys sitting on the_ _porch_ _in shock, surprised that a boy that_ _they've_ _basically_ _ignored_ _for a couple months,_ _would_ _still_ _defend_ _them._


	2. Chapter 2

Bill feels like a fucking asshole right now.

So, when he turns 13 two months before Richie, he's obviously shocked when he finds Richie's name on fingers of his right hand, Stan's on his shoulder, and Eddie's on his palm of his right hand.

He hides it from them, never taking his shirt off when they go swimming, never shaking their hands for more than five seconds.

He worries, and worries, until he sees the his name, Richie, and Eddie all on Stan's hand, and sees his name, Richie, and Stan all on Eddie's hand, and he's so relieved.

Until he starts to think about what that means,Â  about that they could be platonic or romantic, and then he just doesn't care anymore.

But a couple months later, he sees his name, Stan's, and Eddie's name's on Richie's hand before he could cover it up, and that's only when he starts to talk to them about it (excluding Richie), and then they talk about it more and more often, till it seems only the three hang out and Richie isn't there to drag them into getting bullied, and Bill feels kinda... glad. Happy. However you want to describe it.

Then, with Stan and Eddie, he witnesses Richie fight for them even though he feels like they aren't friends anymore against Henry fucking Bowers and his little shitty gang, and Bill Denbrough feels like a fucking asshole.

* * *

 

He, Stan, and Eddie had been walking home from school, walking alongside their bikes, and as they get closer to his house it's silent, but then they hear voices talking, they're confused.

So when they get there, they don't expect Richie to be standing there with his backpack thrown off to the side, standing in front of Henry with his hands balled into fists.

All they see is Henry saying something, then Richie's shouting and tackling him, and there's a lot of punching and screaming and Richie defending them, and they run towards the garage, putting their bikes in and sneaking out to the porch.

They stay there, scared, not knowing what to do as Richie is held powerless against Henry, who uses him as a punching bag.

And they're still there when Richie crawls over to his glasses, putting them on and shakily standing up. They're there when he gets his backpack and starts the walk towards his house, limping with tears streaming down his face, blood coming down too, they're just staring at him in shock.

They're still there when Richie has to come back for a book, and they see a lonesome band-aid on his forehead, only on one instead of different ones on the various cuts on his face and body.

 

* * *

 

Wait, let Bill add one more thing.

Bill Denbrough feels like a fucking asshole _and_ a coward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAIY SHUT I FORGOT TO SAY THE ONLY ONES BIRTHDSY I KNOW (AS IN DAY) IS RICHIE SO I JUST PUT THE OTHER THREE' S BIRYHDAYS IN JANUARY SORRY


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Richie so much and I haven't really found any Richie-centric stories so I made this.
> 
> Also I recently read a story where he had a nightmare because of Pennywise so get ready for Richie angst after the next couple of chapters.

Stan feels like he's just a side character in a story.

He feels like no one wants to focus on his feelings or let people know how he feels. He feels like people wouldn't even notice if he's gone, because they would be focused on the main character.

And he feels like Richie would be the main character.

Richie's the one who has all the bad lines, the one who's always happy, the ones that people would love because they can't meet.

And he would just be a background (at best, side) character because he doesn't fucking do _anything._

He couldn't help Richie when they saw him getting beaten up. He couldn't help Richie when he limped back, with almost nothing on his various bruises and cuts. He couldn't help him when he limped back towards his house, wiping his eyes when he started to cry again.

He can't do anything useful, and it seems like he won't be able to change anything.

-

"What're we going to do?" He asked Bill and Eddie, staring up at the ceiling as Bill spun around in his chair and Eddie continued to write in his journal.

"I don't know." Eddie replied as he finished the last few sentences of his paper.

"We need to at least talk to him!" Stan said as he raised a foot into the air, dropping it back down onto the covers.

"Yeah, but how would we ask to talk?" Eddie argued. "'Oh yeah, we saw you getting beaten up by Henry and his little gang in front of Bill's house and we didn't do anything to stop it, so we were concerned when you limped to your house, crying, and we became even more concerned when we saw you limp back to get something, then walked to your house again, and we saw you start crying again. So are you okay? And we know it's been a couple months, but we needed to ask that.'"

Stan and Bill just stared at him.

"What? It's true." He pointed at them. "You both know that it's true."

"Sure." Stan said. "We totally know it's true, but we want to ignore you because of how smart you are."

"See!" Eddie said, pointing at Stan. "He admitted it! He admi- wait." He stopped of realization clear on his face. "You were being sarcastic, weren't you."

"Yup."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the comments are so kind??? Like you take the time to actaully tell me this story isn't cringey, so thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

He stops thinking about the germs.

He stops thinking about all the germs and diseases and what could happen if he scratches his knees on the road outside of Bill's house.

Because Richie fucking Tozier is there, fighting against Henry fucking Bowers, and he doesn't want to think about germs, he wants to think about Richie's life.

What would happen if Richie gets seriously injuried? His parents don't care about him, he has no friends, and nobody would notice until it's too late.

Nobody would notice because there is nobody to actaully look.

-

Eddie sits in his room, all alone as his mother goes out to ask for more fake medicine for him. He sits on his bed, staring at the list he made in Study Hall, and thinks.

**What** **We Should've Done**

**\- Kept** **talking** **to him**

**\- Not shut him out**

**\- Just not tell him about the marks**

**\- Fucking talked about the soulmate marks**

**\- JUST DONE** **SOMETHING TO** **KEEP THE FRIENDSHIP**

He can't think of anything else to add.

His minds blank, and he feels like a shirt friend in that moment.

What kind of friend can't even think of ways to help them?

Eddie, apparently.


	5. Chapter 5

Richie's starving.

Starving for affection. Starving for touch. Starving for the feeling of being loved. Love. Friendship.

Food.

He's starving for food and he's too scared to go out and buy some because his friends might see him and he doesn't want that.

He doesn't want his friends to see the faint scars all on his forehead and across his body. He doesn't want his friends to question him about it.

He doesn't want his friends to do anything, but at the same time, he wants them to.

He wants them to ask, to hear the reasons. He wants to feel loved for once, instead of wondering if his mom will die of alcohol poisoning or if his dad would even notice.

He wants all these things, but he's too scared to actually act.

But, eventually, he will have to go to the store.

He will have to face the public and their opinions about him.

He will have to face Henry Bowers after school the next day, along with his gang.

And he will eventually run into Eddie, Stan, and Bill, even before he stops trying to avoid them.


	6. Chapter 6

Bill feels like he's falling.

He feels like he's falling from the world, falling from everyone's vision of him.

But, he's not falling. He can't be.

He has to be grounded on Earth if he wants to save Richie.

He has to be grounded in everyone's vision of he wants to save Richie.

But it seems like he can't stop falling.

He can't stop tripping with every step he takes, he can't stop falling in front of Stan. He can't stop almost stepping in the gutter in front of Eddie.

He can't stop all these things, yet they keep happening.

And he feels like he's going insane.

Maybe insane isn't the right word.

But he can't think of the right word.

He can't think of the word that describes a person when they get the feeling they're being watched all the time, but when they look around, no one's there.

He can't think of the word that describes a person who worries about being poisoned all the time when they have no reason to think that.

He can't think of the word that describes a person who wonders what happened to his little brother Georgie every night, and wonders how he would kill the person.

He can't think of the right word, but it doesn't change the fact that he's falling, and he may not stop.


	7. Chapter 7

Stan doesn't know what to do.

Richie's in front of him, on the ground, his glasses of to the side of him. Henry Bowers (without his gang) is standing in front of him, towering over the helpless boy.

He can see Richie looking around, trying to find his glasses, but Henry takes a few steps and picks them up, and Stan doesn't know what he should do.

Should he tackle Henry? Run away? Run away to get Eddie and Bill and then come back? Stay and watch what's happening?

He doesn't know what to do.

Maybe he should just walk away, because he's a weak little boy who doesn't protect his friends when they need it. He doesn't help them because he's a selfish boy who doesn't like doing things unless he's forced to. Who doesn't deserve to l-

He pushes those thoughts away, far back into his mind, where he won't deal with them until he has time to deal with them. Because you know what?

He's not weak at all. He's a boy who can throw a few punches and may hesitate a little (but not a lot) on saving his friends, but will help them no matter what happens. He doesn't have to be forced to.

So, he takes a step towards Henry and Richie.


	8. Chapter 8

Eddie can see Stan take a step.

And another.

And another.

He glanced over to Bill, expecting to see a shocked face, one that says _we need to leave,_ but he has a determined face, one that says _we need to help._

Bill starts to walk towards Henry, his hands balling into fists as he sees him punching and kicking Richie andcalling him names.

Eddie follows, and the closer he gets to Richie, the more angry he gets. He sees all the different places where Richie is bleeding. He sees all the places where there's past scars. He sees all the past things Henry has done.

And he feels so fucking angry.

At himself, at Stan, at Bill, at Henry, at everyone and everything.

Why didn't he go and hang out with Richie? He could have just said "Hi." He could have just talked to him through notes. He could have done literally anything to keep the friendship, yet he just kept talking only to Stan and Bill, ignoring the fuck out of Richie.

But he's done.

He's done ignoring his best friend. He doesn't want to ignore it, because Richie doesn't deserve it.

So he gets closer and closer Henry and he's almost right beside him when Henry looks up and sees them. He starts to say something, but he can't finish because Eddie punches him in the mouth, obviously.

And the fight is on.


	9. Chapter 9

Why.

Why are they fighting?

Fighting for him? Fighting so he won't be bullied by Henry any more today? Fighting so he won't get more cuts? More bruises?

Fighting because they're stupid?

That's the question.

And the answer.

They're fighting because they're stupid.

Richie doesn't want anyone else getting hurt when he's getting bullied, yet here his friends (ex-friends, he corrects) were fighting for him, risking their parents asking _what happened?_

It was always okay with Richie, because his parents never noticed. They never asked what happened, never asked why he was crying.

His mom was too drunk to barely form a sentence, and his dad was barely home.

He thinks all of this while crawling away, and he stands up on his two feet. He looks over to the fight, and Henry is punching all of them, getting in good hits.

They separate for a moment, and in that time that's filled with panting and dripping blood, he charges at Henry and punches him in the jaw.

Henry steps back, putting one hand up to his jaw as the other is against his side. He takes a couple steps backwards, and then he raises his right hand up towards the boys.

He gives them the bird, then he turns away and sprints off, running far away.

Richie feels proud of himself for a moment, before remembering the boys who also fought Henry.

_Shit._


	10. Chapter 10

Bill wants to cry.

Bill wants to fucking cry because he sees Richie hesitating to turn around and look at them. He sees Richie slowly turning around, bracing himself for what will happen. So he does the only thing he can think of.

He grabs Richie and hugs him.

Later, he realizes that might not have been the best action to do, but it wasn't the worst either.

So he grabs Richie and pulls him into a hug in the empty school parking lot, with Stan and Eddie nearby, wondering what the hell they should do, when Richie grabs onto Bill and hugs back, and he starts crying.

Bill starts crying a little too, and then Stan joins the hug, and Eddie joins too.

And it's just a little group crying at school with multiple cuts and bruises on them.

But they're okay.


	11. Chapter 11

Stan knows what's going to happen.

He knows Bill is going to hug Richie. He knows Bill is going to cry. He knows Richie is going to cry.

How does he know all of this?

Well, it's simple.

He remembers what Bill would do whenever Georgie would come home from school with Stan and Bill. He would always hug Georgie and slightly cry, and Georgie would always cry back.

And Stan would also join the hug.

Just like he did with Bill and Richie.

Except, this time Eddie was there too and he joined, and they all hugged, ignoring the fact that they weren't friends anymore. That they didn't know if they still had the same favorite food or favorite book.

But Stan was okay with that. If a friendship stops, it can be started again.


	12. Chapter 12

Eddie's lost in his head when they're all hugging.

He's lost in his head because he's thinking about the soulmate marks.

He's lost in the marks on the hands, thinking about the names. About how he could just be friends with them, never dating, never having sex.

Or he could date the names.

He could date them and it wouldn't matter, because you never know with soulmate marks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is really crappy and cringey and I honestly do not know why people like it


	13. Chapter 13

It's been a couple days since they all hugged.

It's been a couple days since Richie got home and just thought about the names. Thought about how he felt about them. Thought about everything.

And he feels scared.

What if he's one of those f-words his mom is ranting about in the rare moments she's not drunk? He doesn't want to say, or even think the word, because what if he is?

What if he's going to get kicked out of his house when his mom or dad finds out?

What if they hate him more than they do? What if-

Someone knocks on the window.


	14. Chapter 14

Bill wanted to talk.

He wanted to talk about the whole "incident" (it wasn't an incident, really. All they did was partially beat up a kid who was also beating them up because they were protecting their friend from him and- yeah, it was an incident) that happened a couple days ago.

He wanted to explain himself to Richie, telling him why he did all of those actions, why he fought for him.

But he wasn't going to tell Richie it was because he loved him.

No way. They need to actually become friend's again before he drops the bomb on him.


	15. Chapter 15

Stan was on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wishing he could start his whole fucking life over again.

He wishes he could start it over, because then he could make different choices, ignoring that clown at the carnival, keeping Richie's friendship, helping him, helping himself.

Doing anything to make it so his anxiety was gone. Anything so that he didn't have it.

So, he stares up at the ceiling, seeing the blood red words etched into his brain, dripping off of the ceiling. He sees Richie standing at the window, knocking on it, asking to be let in, and a minute later he realizes that Richie is real and the words are not.


	16. Chapter 16

Eddie thinks. And thinks. And thinks.

He thinks about the blood that stained the grass at school. He thinks about the tears that were on Richie's face. He thinks about Bill and Stan smiling in relief as they hugged Richie.

He thinks about all these things while he's sitting as his desk, tapping his pencil against the white notebook paper.

He thinks about the germs that were probably in Richie's blood. He thinks about the germs that were probably all over Stan and Bill as he hugged them and he should be afraid. He should be going to the bathroom and scrubbing himself down till his skin is red.

But he doesn't feel as much panic as he did before.

I mean, sure, he's still going to scrub himself till his skin is as red as the blood in his veins (okay maybe not that red), but he isn't as panicked about it as he was before.

Maybe he's changing.

Maybe he's losing the protection his mom tried to give.


	17. Chapter 17

"Bill?" Richie asked as he opened the window.

"C-can I come in?"

"Yeah, but come through the front door."

"Okay."

Richie walks down towards the front door, opening it when Bill knocks on it.

It's silent between the two as they climb the stairs.

Richie shuts the door behind Bill.


	18. Chapter 18

Bill is concerned.

He's concerned about Richie's home life. About Richie's mental health. About his physical health.

He's concerned about the nights he sees Richie riding past his house at 1 in the morning. He concerned about Richie falling asleep in class and lunch.

He's concerned about how Richie keeps looking everywhere except at him.

He concerned about Richie, but he didn't know what he could do.


	19. Chapter 19

Stan shivers in his room, the cold air hitting his bare shoulders.

Richie came by a couple days ago, and Stan's been thinking about him ever since.

He keeps thinking about his curly hair, about his pink lips, about his soft eyes, about his everything.

He keeps thinking about Richie every time he reads a book. He keeps thinking about Richie everytime he talks to anyone. He keeps thinking about Richie when he shouldn't.

He keeps thinking about Richie, and it doesn't mind him as much as it should have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna write a stozier story but I don't have any ideas


	20. Chapter 20

Eddie feels like punching something.

Preferably a someone.

Preferably a boy.

Preferably a boy with a mullet.

Preferably a boy who's name starts with a H.

Preferably a boy named Henry Bowers.

He wants to punch Henry Bowers.

He wants to punch Henry Bowers, because that boy fucking punched Richie in the face, and Richie didn't fucking tell them, and Eddie didn't even know until he walked put of school and Henry was gloating.

He wants to beat the living shit out of Henry. He wants to make him feel the pain he gives other kids. He wants Henry to break every bone in his body. He wants Henry to fall down a well.

He doesn't care what happens to Henry, as long as he stops bullying people.


	21. Chapter 21

"I'm fine guys!"

"No you are not!"

"Henry was gloating about punching you! He actually looked happy! And he had dried blood on his hands!"

"Sure! He could have had dried blood on his hands! But he could have punched someone else and used their blood as mine!"

"You have a fucking cut on your face and part of your face is swollen!"

"I! I, um, I don't have a good excuse!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if i ever mentioned this but you guys can leave requests for oneshots you want written?
> 
> like, if you want stozier or reddie or bichie or stenbrough (preferably within those four people) you can comment here or message on my tumblr (booksameliad) because i get bored a lot


	22. Chapter 22

Bill sighs as he wraps the bandage around Richie's arm, his face unreadable as Richie winces at the pain.

"Why'd you get into a fight with Henry?"

Richie is silent, staring at the floor as Bill stares at him, waiting for an answer in the silent house.

Bill's about to speak, about to say the question again, when Richie speaks.

"They were talking shit about you."

He says it quietly, and Bill feels honored.

Richie got in a fight over him?

"Why?"

"Well, I couldn't let them talk crap about my crush, could I?" Richie says, waiting for Bill to tell him to leave.

Bill will obviously hate him now because he just said he's gay, right?

But he doesn't.

Instead, Bill gently grabs his head and when Richie looks at him, he kisses him.

Richie's in shock for a few seconds (his crush is kissing him!!!!!!!!) but he responds, getting even closer to him as they kiss, lost in the feeling.

Bill eventually separates from Richie, breathing heavily as he leans his forehead against Richie's.

"Are we boyfriends now or?" Richie asks, looking at Bill.

Bill grinned. "I think we are."


	23. Chapter 23

Stan walks along the broken path, kicking rocks away as he looks around, trying to find that one rock.

That one rock was a heart shaped rock he found when he was walking through the path, staring down at the ground. It was light pink and seemed to glow.

He wanted to give it to Richie (maybe even tell him his feelings) but he was scared to.

What if Richie was dating someone? What if be thought that Stan was stupid for liking his best friend? What if he rejected Stan?

All the questions swirled around in Stan's mind as he tapped his pencil against his paper twice, pauses, taps twice, pauses, and the pattern continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any great bichie or stozier stories to recommend?  
> and i'm working on the next chapter of five times bill gave richie a piggyback ride and one time he just carried him i swear


End file.
